


Save Me

by mercy_angel_09



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance if you squint, annoying you shows that I care, what's life without a little danger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-04-01
Packaged: 2017-12-05 20:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercy_angel_09/pseuds/mercy_angel_09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a slight to Korra's pride results in escalating shenanigans which leads to an unlikely partnership. At least for a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Amorra shenanigans of the sort where Amon is annoyed by the Avatar into some sort of temporary truce that resembles friendship.

If there was one thing that Korra didn’t take lightly, it was slights on her pride.

The words of Amon had stung her pride to the point to where she had taken to sneaking away from Air Temple Island late at night and prowling the streets for any Triad member she came across. The police station would find four or five men tied up on their front step where some mysterious vigilante was leaving them. Lin had an idea who was doing it, but decided it wasn’t worth it to try and fight with her over it; no doubt Korra would say that they wouldn’t be able to prove that she was the person who was behind the mysterious drops anyway.

Tonight Korra prowled around the downtown area, looking for anyone who was dumb enough to challenge her. She was lucky that so far the only people she encountered belonged to the Triads, as she wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk away from an encounter with an Equalist. Creeping around in the shadows, she tailed a lone Triad member, waiting for the right moment to strike.  He turned into an alley and Korra smirked. Perfect.

Except that it wasn’t. Down the alley there was a group of five waiting for her. It wasn’t the most favorable outcome, but Korra could take them.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” one of them asked, cocking his head to the side with a smug smile. “Looks like our Avatar has decided to grace us with her presence tonight.” His cohorts chuckled, stopping when he held up a hand. “I think we should give her a proper welcome. What do you say, boys?”

Cracking her knuckles, Korra smiled. “Bring it on.” Six was nothing. This would be easy

When the number tripled, that’s when Korra realized that she was in trouble. Triad members weren’t like her sparring partners back in the compound in the South Pole, waiting to attack one at a time. Instead they all rushed at her at once. A few she managed to turn on each other, but it didn’t take long for them to overpower her.

This was not good.

Frantically she struck out, attacking with everything she had, but it didn’t matter. She was being attacked on all sides and without a minor miracle, she’d be lucky if she walked away from this.

What she got instead was Amon.

One by one they fell at his hands, their chi blocked and bending rendered useless before he knocked them out. When he stood in the center of a mass of sprawled bodies, he looked over at her and tsked in annoyance. “Honestly Avatar, are you really so careless as to follow a Triad thug down an alley without possibly considering that it is a trap?”

Standing and dusting herself off, Korra snorted. “I was doing just fine.”

“You were losing and if I hadn’t stepped in they would have killed you.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t let them just do me in.” In retrospect this was probably not the smartest thing she could have said to him, but her brush with death had put her on edge and she was beyond caring how she came off to people, least of all Amon.

“On the contrary, Avatar, I refuse to let you fall at anyone’s hands but my own.” He picked his way through the unconscious bodies until he was standing directly in front of her. “Take my advice and avoid future situations like this.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” she shot back, glaring up at the expressionless mask.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I have offered you sound advice. I’m not always going to be here to save you should your impulsiveness get you into trouble you can’t get out of,” he replied as he dusted off his shirt sleeve.

“I didn’t even ask for your help in the first place!”

“That doesn’t change that you sorely needed it.”

“Augh! Just leave me alone!”

“Finally, something we agree on,” Amon replied as he turned away from her. He disappeared into the shadows, leaving Korra standing amongst the unconscious Triad members. Realizing that there was no way for her to take these men in by herself, she tied them up with bits of rope and twine she found about the alley and then headed to the nearest pay phone and calling in the location to the police department. She climbed up a nearby fire escape and waited, watching intently as the police arrived to find the men just starting to come around.

Content that these men would be locked up for quite some time, Korra headed back to Air Temple Island for some much needed rest.

The next night she headed out again, hoping to avoid the previous night’s situation. Needing help was humiliating enough, getting that help from Amon had been so mortifying she almost decided to stop going out altogether. However her pride wouldn’t let her give up so easily, so after some waffling on her part she finally crept from her room in the women’s dormitory and headed into the city.

Though she didn’t want to admit that Amon’s advice had been solid, it didn’t change the fact that he was correct and so Korra was much more careful when approaching potential targets. This method served her well until she was ambushed by twenty members of the Agni Kais in the middle of the street. It seemed as though they had simply been waiting for her to arrive, melting out of the shadows to stand around her, many of them sporting wicked grins and dangerous gleams in their golden eyes.

Well crap.

This time she wasn’t stuck in an alley, but excess damage to the street would certainly have Lin knocking on her door come morning, and the last thing she needed right now was to spend a day in Lin’s ever delightful company. Opting to fight fire with fire, and occasionally water she could pull from the puddles from the day’s rainfall, she managed to take most of the Agni Kais down, but enough were still standing as she felt her body start to tire. Pulling back she tried to pull on her reserves but found that she was exhausted. Again she’d need a miracle to get out of this.

“I thought I told you to avoid situations like this,” a voice grumbled behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Amon come up next to her from the corner of her eye.

She grunted. “Hey, I was just walking down the street and they ambushed me. I wasn’t looking for trouble.”

“Of course,” he said as he rolled his shoulders a few times. “Well then, let us begin.”

She caught her breath as she watched him fight, long limbs striking with speed that she could only hope to one day match. Watching the ease in which he took down the remaining Agni Kai’s, Korra realized that she probably didn’t stand a chance against him. She’d been training since she was a child, she wasn’t a bender to take lightly but it was clear that Amon was years ahead of her in skill and there was no way that she’d ever be able to take him on and win. At least until she could unlock her airbending and the Avatar State.

“You should probably call the police,” he said as he straightened his clothing.

Deciding that it wasn’t worth it to argue with him, Korra found a pay phone on the corner and called in to report the mass of unconscious bodies in the street. When she hung up she found Amon was pulling the ones from the street onto the sidewalk. “I’m surprised you’re doing this. I thought you’d be okay with them becoming roadkill.”

“I am many things, Avatar, but a cold blooded murder isn’t one of them,” he said as he propped one up against the wall. “Give me a hand; most of them are your doing.”

“Fine,” she grumbled as she grabbed the nearest unconscious body and pulled it up on the sidewalk.

She and Amon worked in silence until the wail of sirens filled the air. Amon grabbed her wrist and yanked her into the alley, boosting her up to a fire escape and then following her up. He jerked his head up to indicate that she should go all the way to the roof. Rolling her eyes she climbed up, trying to ignore the prods to her ankles and calves when he thought she wasn’t moving fast enough.

From the safety of the roof she peered down and watched the men work, Lin standing off to the side and glaring in disapproval.

“It seems that our esteemed chief of police doesn’t take kindly to your tactics.”

“She doesn’t like me working outside of her authority,” Korra muttered as she backed away from the edge.

“Are you saying that Chief BeiFong likes to be in control of all variables?”

Korra gave a small shrug and looked away.

“Clearly you have no idea what I’m talking about,” he muttered as he looked over the edge to see how the police were progressing. The last of the unconscious men were loaded in the trucks and a few remaining officers made a sweep of the street and nearby alleys to see if they could find their anonymous tipper, but turned up nothing. Content that it was just a random Good Samaritan, they got into their truck and sped away.

“Well, this has been a most enlightening experience but I should probably get back to Air Temple Island,” Korra said as she stretched.

“So soon?”

“You don’t think that I want to spend the entire night on a roof with you, do you?” she asked, arching a brow at him.

He shrugged. “Getting into these little scrapes makes me think that perhaps you enjoy my company.”

“Dream on, jerk,” she answered as she started climbing down the fire escape.

She really didn’t want to spend time with him if she didn’t have to. That didn’t keep her from being intrigued by his behavior, which was puzzling at best. As she made her way back to the bay, Korra contemplated the way Amon kept coming to her rescue. She believed his line about keeping her safe so he could be the one to take her down, but for some reason she felt that there was more to it.

It was a terrible idea, really, but she wanted to know – she needed to know – what he was doing. This was something she was going to regret, she knew it, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Would he come to her aid every time she got into trouble? He’d made it sound as if he wouldn’t always be there, but she felt that the words were hollow, that he’d do anything to ensure that he had his victory over her.

And as stupid as it was, she was going to test this theory.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A desperate situation makes Amon take drastic action, and a temporary truce makes them both question their motives.

Seven days.

Seven days of purposefully walking into obvious traps and getting mixed up in spats that she had no business being involved with.

Seven days of watching Amon grudgingly come to her rescue, always lecturing her after that he wasn’t going to be there every time she got in over her head.

So on the eighth day, Amon was waiting for her when she appeared from the water of Yue Bay near the Pro-Bending Arena and watched her as she dried herself off and set herself to rights before she looked at him. “What?” she asked.

“You are impossible, Avatar,” he informed her.

“Oh really?” she retorted as she started to stroll towards the heart of the city.

“I’m starting to think that you enjoy tormenting me.”

“I’m not trying to torment you,” she answered. “I’m trying to do my duty as the Avatar and clean this city up. Everyone who’s been captured has a record as long as my arm!”

“And yet you still manage to get into situations that require my assistance to get out of.”

“Well that’s your fault.”

“My fault?!” He stopped and Korra was fairly certain that he was gaping at her from underneath the mask. “I cannot possibly see how this is all my fault.”

“You were the one who said that you couldn’t let anything happen to me because the only person who gets to take me down is you.” She smirked at him. “It’s only been a week and a half. Surely you haven’t forgotten.”

Of course, how stupid of him to forget. “You’ve been testing me.”

“And you passed with flying colors.”

“I don’t find this nearly as amusing as you do, Avatar.”

She shook her head and kept walking. “No, I didn’t think you would.”

“Then why…”

“I don’t know why you’re my enemy, but you are. I decided I wanted to know more about you. Also, you and I make a pretty good team.”

“I fail to see how you and I make a good team,” Amon muttered as he caught up to her. “You get in over your head and I have to come in to make sure some overzealous Traid member doesn’t drown, flatten, or burn you to a crisp.”

“Okay, less of a team and more of a…a…”

“There’s absolutely nothing between us, Avatar, other than the fact that I will not let some glory hound take you down before I have a chance to make you regret the day you were born,” he answered.

Korra shrugged. “Okay, fair enough.”

Amon snorted and they continued walking in silence. It wasn’t unusual for Republic City to be quiet at this hour, but there was something unnatural about it on this particular evening.

“Uh…Amon?”

“What is it, Avatar?”

“Is it me or is it just a little too quiet around here?”

Amon paused and cocked his head, as if he were trying to listen to the very heart of the city and was coming up with nothing. “Perhaps,” he finally agreed after several minutes of waiting.

“So what do we do?”

“We keep going.”

“Are you insane?!”

“Some might think so.”

“Why did I even ask?” she mumbled as she shuffled along the street. Every part of her was screaming for her to go back to Air Temple Island and actually sleep for a change, except the stubborn part of her that absolutely refused to walk away. She needed to know what was going on – why the city had retreated into itself.

Several minutes later she had her answer.

“Well, well, well, looky here,” a man sneered as he sauntered out of an alleyway. “It seems that our esteemed Avatar has taken up with the leader of the Equalists.”

Laughter echoed around Amon and Korra, setting them both on edge. Looking around they saw no one, but they knew people were there, waiting, lurking, and ready to pounce with the time came.

“This is a development I did not expect,” another man commented as he came out of the shadows of a nearby building. “I thought the Avatar was on the side of the benders.”

“Oh, I am,” she retorted hotly, “but I can’t stand dirty punks like you!”

“Another thing we seem to agree on,” Amon stated as he examined his nails in such a disaffected way the two men’s faces twisted into snarls of rage.

“Oh wow, a whole two things,” Korra replied, shaking her head. “It’s the end of the world, I tell ya.”

“Well however you look at it,” a third man stated, “this is problematic.”

“Indeed,” the first man agreed. “I say we should eradicate it.”

A shiver went down Korra’s spine as her skin erupted in gooseflesh. This was not good. Not good at all.

“Well, this isn’t what I had in mind for tonight,” Amon noted as he stepped closer to her.

“Same here,” she agreed. She watched as several Triad members appeared, popping out of shadows and from behind dumpsters and parked satomobiles.

“It seems they’ve agreed on one thing, and it’s that we’re a dangerous combination.”

“So we fight?”

“Do you see another solution, Avatar?”

She grimaced. “I was afraid of that.”

“How odd. Usually you’re spoiling for a fight.”

“Under normal circumstances, sure. These are not normal circumstances!”

“Fair enough,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Shall we show these heathens what we can do?”

“Let’s do this,” she said before running straight into the fray.

She’d gotten better at fighting the Triad members over the last week and a half, learning that they fought in ways that would let them win, often ganging up on her. Learning to use that to her advantage, Korra began turning the attacks back on the Triads, smirking in delight as they fell like spider-flies. Her advantage soon waned though, as exhaustion set in. It seemed as though every able bodied member of three different Triads had come to the fight, and every time she thought she had made progress she found that she was faced with fresh forces.

Looking across the street she saw Amon was making quick work of the men who were attacking him – most of them were lying sprawled in the street or leaning against nearby buildings, their bending useless. Well at least he was having success.

That was the last conscious thought she had before the world went black, as one opportunistic earthbender sent a rock flying at her head and knocking her unconscious.

In a strange twist of fate Amon happened to be looking at Korra when it happened. She crumpled to the ground, limbs splayed at an unnatural angle, and blood pooling around her head.

Amon wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt outraged on her behalf, he certainly wasn’t above using low blows or underhanded tactics to gain an advantage, but over the last week and a half he’d become strangely fond of the Avatar’s company, seeing her not as her title, but as the girl. He could almost relate to her on some level, of having ridiculous expectations thrust upon them both at such a young age and being told that they would succeed or they would die.

Though some sort of miracle he kept his cool and fought his way to where Korra was lying prone, knocking out just enough Triad members so he could pick her up and get her away from there. Holding her in a fireman’s carry, he cut through alleys and side streets before ducking to the back of a building. Taking the back stairs he carried her up three floors and down a dingy hallway to a door with peeling green paint and faded numbers. Unlocking it, he swung it opened and entered the apartment, his eyes scanning the room and trying to determine where to put her. Ultimately he settled on the bed, the only place she could lie in relative comfort while he cleaned and dressed her wounds.

He was relieved when he saw the cut was shallow, but she’d have one hell of a bruise and a killer headache when she woke up. Odd that he’d be so concerned for her welfare, but something within him didn’t agree with leaving a teenaged girl alone with three dozen men who wanted her blood. That was cold, even by his standards.

Pulling the mask off, Amon scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. There was nothing more he could do until she woke up. Grabbing fresh clothes from the wardrobe, he headed to the bathroom for a hot shower to clear his head. He needed to figure out what he’d say to her when she finally regained consciousness.

Lucky for him he had all night to come up with something, as Korra didn’t rouse until he was making breakfast the next morning. Her vision was a little blurry and her head was pounding, but other than that she felt fine. Heading to where the sounds were coming from, Korra made her way down a little hallway to what appeared to be a very small kitchen with a very large man in it.

She groaned as she propped herself up in the doorjamb, the room swimming before her eyes.

“Ah, good, you’re up.”

She knew that voice. However, she didn’t know that face.

Blinking a few times she tried to focus on the strange man, who was looking at her in concern. He was tall, maybe a little taller than Tarrlok, she mused, with dark brown hair and pale blue eyes that seemed to be scanning her in an attempt to discern…something.

“That was quite the scare you gave me last night, Avatar,” he said as pulled a pot from the stove. “And I don’t scare easily.”

Slowly the previous night’s events clicked into place. The ambush by the Triads. She was fighting but getting tired. She looked up to see how Amon was doing and…

“Did I get hit in the head?”

“By a very large piece of rock,” he confirmed.

“Then what happened?”

“I got you out of there before they could kill you. It would be rather inconvenient for me to have to wait another seventeen years to challenge the next Avatar. I’m not as young as you might think.”

That confirmed that the man she was walking too was indeed Amon, but he looked so different without the mask and the armor and the double breasted tunic. He wore what she considered typical Republic City garb – charcoal colored trousers with shoes and spats that went up to his knees and a long sleeved white shirt with a blue sleeveless tunic over it. Korra could have passed this man on the street a dozen times and never known how dangerous he was.

“A little dangerous, isn’t it, bringing me here?”

Amon shrugged as he dished up whatever was in the pot. “I suppose, though I do believe you know that you could never hope to take me on and win in your current state.” He smirked at her. “Or any other time, for that matter.”

She scowled but stopped when it pulled at her wound, causing her to wince. Amon sighed. “Go sit down at the table, I’ll bring you your food.”

“And what makes you think that I’m going to eat food you made me?” she replied as she made her way to the dining area. Sitting down at the table, she buried her head in her arms fought the urge to cry, though she wasn’t sure if it was because she felt like she was in a hopeless situation or because she was still in pain.

“So you’re not as stupid as I originally thought,” he said as he placed the bowls on the table along with two spoons and two sets of chopsticks. “I would get no satisfaction out of poisoning you, Avatar. I would much rather you be aware of the moment I take your bending and render you completely useless.”

“You’re not exactly inspiring my appetite,” she grumbled.

“Regardless, you still need to eat. It wouldn’t do for you to die while in my…care.” He made a face as if insinuating that caring for her was some great undertaking that had been forced upon him.

“You could have left me.”

“They would have killed you,” he answered flatly. “For some strange reason, I couldn’t just abandon you there, even though it would have been the easiest thing for me to do.”

She lifted her head and looked at him, marveling at the way he seemed so frustrated with himself. No doubt he was upset that he hadn’t just left her to die. “So…what exactly does this mean for us?”

“You are still my enemy,” he answered before picking up some seaweed noodles with his chopsticks and busying himself with eating.

Korra swirled the noodles around her bowl with her chopsticks, wondering if it was safe. It seemed as though Amon wouldn’t stoop to such underhanded tactics, and whatever odd truce they had going at the moment apparently applied to breakfast as well. At least she thought it was breakfast until a nearby clock chimed noon.

“Oh spirits, how long was I out?” she squawked.

“About fourteen hours,” he replied. “Be thankful it wasn’t longer.”

She swallowed. “Why?”

“Because the chances of you regaining consciousness dimmed with each hour.” He looked at her. “You were hit hard, but lucky for you the wound was shallow and it appears that there will be no lasting damage.”

“Oh, no, please sound like you care,” she snarked at him as she continued to stir her soup.

“I swear to you, Avatar, your lunch isn’t poisoned. Eat. I’d rather you walk out of here on your own tonight.”

“Did you just call me fat?”

“Muscle mass weighs more than fat, Avatar.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don’t relish the thought of carrying you down three flights of stairs. Though I suppose I could I just push you from the top and let things fall where they may, as it were.”

“Now there’s the Amon I know and love,” she said dryly.

“Would you just eat already?” he muttered.

Deciding that Amon wouldn’t do something as mundane as just poisoning her in the privacy of his apartment, Korra started by just sipping some of the broth before deciding to have some of the noodles. It wasn’t as good as Pema’s cooking, but it wasn’t terrible either.  When she finished Amon told her to rest on the couch and he’d take care of things around the apartment.

Bored, Korra flipped on the radio and tried to find something to listen to. There was some sort of drama currently playing, though she was unsure of what the plot was so far. The most she was able to gather from listening to the program was that someone had started an affair with someone else’s wife, that someone’s father had been murdered, and apparently someone else had gone mad. It was all very confusing and Korra nearly asked for a sheet of paper and a pencil so she could start taking notes. Of course then she realized how absolutely silly that was, and therefore managed to refrain, turning the radio off when it was done.

“Oh good, that mindless drivel is finally over,” Amon commented dryly as he strode into the room.

“It was the only thing on,” Korra shrugged. It wasn’t like she normally tuned into things like that. Such mindless drivel usually bored her. The fact that she had listened to the whole program was a testament to her boredom. “Besides, what else is there to do around here?”

“Read the paper.”

At his suggestion she did so, actually reading each article instead of speeding to the ones that interested her, usually the ones about the pro-bending rankings. She didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t what she was reading. Her scowl got progressively deeper until Amon finally commented on it. “Something wrong, Avatar?”

“Sometimes I think I was raised by a bunch of liars,” she answered, shocking Amon in the process. “It’s like they thought I was some kind of idiot, that I wouldn’t be able to handle the truth.”

“Well this is an interesting development. Do share.”

Korra let out a frustrated huff. “It’s like the only thing the White Lotus ever told me was how great and wonderful the world was. People living and working together, how peaceful and nice it was. Nobody was suffering, everything was just sunshine and rainbows and then I find out that it’s one giant lie and I am in no way prepared to deal with the real world because to me the real world is one giant lie!”

At this point, Amon was certain that his eyebrows were in his hairline. “That was not what I was expecting.”

“Listen, I get it. You have this idea of who I am and how I’m supposed to behave, and when I put even one toe out line you and your followers jump all over me like I’m some failure. Well guess what, bub. Even Avatars can screw up. Let’s not forget that Kyoshi was the one who founded the Dai Li.” She stared him down. “I’m still human. I’m not a god or a spirit or whatever. I’m not infallible. I am going to make mistakes. Avatar Aang made mistakes.”

Amon snorted. “A rather big one, if I’m not mistaken.”

“What?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“Well, you can try to bring me down but I’m never going to stop fighting you.”

The corners of his mouth pulled up into something resembling a smile, but far more sinister. “I wouldn’t want it any other way, Avatar.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Amon reach a decision in terms of their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, time for the thrilling conclusion. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this; I do hope you enjoyed it.

“Why do I feel like you’re leading me to my doom?”

“Because for all you know, I am.”

“Great.”

“Oh come now, Avatar. I thought you’d be relieved to leave my apartment.”

“You have no idea. But was the blindfold really necessary?”

“Do you take me for a fool?”

“…No?”

“I didn’t think so.”

“How much further?” Korra whined as Amon steered her through the streets of Republic City.

“Not much further.”

“Good, because this got old real fast.”

“Your impatience never ceases to amaze me, Avatar.”

“Oh shut up.”

They continued on in silence, Korra trying to ignore the way her skin tingled where she could feel his fingers against her shoulders. When night had fallen and Amon had determined that it was safe to leave his apartment, he’d led her down the stairs and then blindfolded her before leading her out the back door. She had the very distinct feeling that he was taking her in circles to keep her from being able to identify the building he lived in.

“All right, you can take the blindfold off,” he said.

Korra reached up and pulled the cloth from her eyes, looking around to see if she recognized where she was. “The park?”

“I figured neutral territory was best,” he answered.

“So…this has been the weirdest day of my life,” she informed him. “But not completely terrible.”

“No, it surprisingly wasn’t,” he agreed.

“You know…maybe we should talk more often.”

“We didn’t exactly talk a lot today.”

“Well no,” she said slowly, “but I think I’m more willing to listen now.”

He eyed her, trying to determine what she was getting at. “I think it may be too late for that, Avatar. The time for talking has long since passed. Action must be taken, and I will be the one to lead the charge.”

Korra pouted, her lower lip jutting out to a ridiculous degree. “That’s stupid.”

“Regardless, the seeds of war have been sown. It would be foolish and irresponsible of us to try and ignore that for something that might not even last.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Probably right?” he echoed in disbelief.

“Okay, you are completely and totally right,” she amended. “Better?”

“Much.”

Cocking her head to the side, she studied him in the lamplight. He stood, posture rigid, staring over her shoulder at the fountain behind her. Strange that he’d deliberately lead her to a part of the park where she was at an advantage, though perhaps it was nothing more than one final gesture of good faith between them before they parted ways and resumed being enemies. “I…uh, that is…um…thanks for helping me last night,” she finally blurted.

“I did what I had to do. Nothing more, nothing less.” He sighed. “Go home, Avatar, and give up this silly crusade of yours. Nothing good will come from it.”

She wanted to protest, tell him that he was wrong, but was stopped by the sound of voices. Pulling water from the fountain, Korra slid into a defensive stance while Amon did the same. They waited for something, some sign that they were going to be attacked, but were surprised when someone called, “It’s the Avatar! She’s safe but she’s fighting Amon!”

Grimacing, Korra sent a water whip racing at Amon. He easily dodged before slipping into the shadows, just as the members of the task force flooded the patio.

“Oh thank goodness you’re okay!” came Tarrlok’s oily voice. “Tenzin said you didn’t come home last night, and the rest of us were just worried sick.”

“Yeah…it’s…complicated,” Korra answered as she turned to face the approaching councilman. He was wearing his task force uniform, a pleasant smile on his face and his arms open wide as if he were going to embrace her.

Tarrlok slid his arm around her shoulder and guided her to one of their trucks. “Don’t worry, no explanation needed! No doubt you came into the city to get some Water Tribe food since you were homesick and on your way back to Air Temple Island you were ambushed and attacked by the Equalists. You must have just managed to escape when Amon caught up to you. It’s a good thing we were nearby.”

Korra didn’t bother to correct him. It wasn’t entirely accurate, but she doubted that Tarrlok would believe the truth anyway. In this situation it was wiser to just keep silent and let everyone believe what they wanted. Anything to spare her the awkward conversations about how she spent the afternoon sitting on Amon’s couch doing the puzzles in the newspaper and arguing over the best way to make stewed sea prunes.

“I’ll take you home,” he said and he meant it. He escorted her all the way to Air Temple Island and Korra was certain that it was the only time that Tenzin was happy to see Tarrlok show up on his doorstep unannounced. Tarrlok wasted no time in relaying Korra’s ordeal, albeit the version he had concocted on his own. In the end it didn’t matter, of course, as no one besides Amon and Korra would ever know the truth of the last twenty-four hours.

When Tarrlok finally left, Pema escorted Korra to the kitchen and made her a pot of tea. “You don’t have to talk about what happened if you don’t want to,” she said with a kind smile. “I just want you to know that we were worried and hoped that you’d return safely.”

Korra smiled in hopes of conveying her thanks and then drank her tea in silence. Part of her wanted to talk about it, about how she had tried to reach out to the enemy and talk over their differences, but another part of her wanted to hold it like a precious secret.

She now had two conflicting images of Amon. Front and center of her mind was the image of the leader of the Equalists, masked and cloaked in mystery and shadow. He would always haunt her mind, a threat just looming over the horizon. But the man she had met in his apartment, who cooked Water Tribe food and fussed over the Sudoku puzzle in the newspaper, intrigued her. She wanted to get to know him better.

As she crawled into bed for a long deserved rest (long after assuring that Pema and Tenzin that the wound on her head wasn’t severe, it just looked bad), Korra wondered if she’d ever see the man behind the mask again. During the day she’d look up from whatever she was doing to find him studying her, his face reminding her of a curious child studying a new animal they had stumbled across while out exploring. It was odd, it was almost as if he was debating with himself as to why they were enemies in the first place.

Shaking off her unease, Korra allowed herself to sleep. It wouldn’t do to dwell on things that could never be.


End file.
